We had a couple more newcomers sign up this week and one of those teams earned their first points of the season.

Only one player provided full points this week but we have a bushel of tough-luck awards to hand out. And next week is October, so, yeah, September champion(s) crowned. As always, read on if you want to know the goings on in the league, but if you don’t have time, skip to the end and post your Week 4 lineups.

Congratulations to Chill Tow., who announced their arrival with authority, starting Jermichael Finley, our top tight end and the only player correctly chosen this week. The selection was good for five points and puts Chill Tow. in a two-way tie for fifth place with Rockchalk.

But anyone who played Rob Gronkowski, and there were a lot of you this week, earns a tough-luck award and accompanying consolation point. Tough-luck winners this week were: Purple Coconuts, 69ers, Dante Bruno, Team Name Here, Schizo Smurfs, Tom Hagen, Gridiron Assassins, cartisimo, MoHawks and Sockonfl.

The points put some teams on the board, but did not change the leaders. Purple Coconuts and 69ers both added a point to maintain their tie atop the league, leaving us with a tie for the first monthly championship of 2011. Congratulations to our September champions Purple Coconuts and 69ers. The race for the October crown starts Sunday.

Dante Bruno and Team Name Here, who both also added points, are tied for third place with six points each.

We also want to welcome inthewhale, who posted their first lineup of 2011.

As I’ve said before, cutting across the grain can pay dividends in this contest, so I’m going to give a nod to Chickenheads & Pigeons this week. C&P posted a lineup that included Matt Hasselbeck and Montario Hardesty. Hasselbeck threw for 300+ and you wonder what he could have done if Kenny Britt hadn’t torn his ACL. Hardesty was a sneaky play in place of Peyton Hillis, who was a game-day scratch.

Now, let’s take a look at this week’s top fantasy performers:

Quarterbacks

Joe Flacco‘s deep throws and Torrey Smith seemed like a deadly match on Sunday. Flacco threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns and ran for almost 30 yards to finish with 28.5 fantasy points. Mark Sanchez, who had a rushing touchdown, finished with 369 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception to score 26.96 points and finish as our runner up.

Running backs

There should be little doubt that a healthy Darren McFadden is among the best players in the game. On Sunday, McFadden gashed the once impenetrable Jets defense for 171 yards on 19 carries, scoring twice and catching three passes for seven yards. He finished with 29.8 fantasy points. Ryan Matthews, the only Chargers player to take advantage of the matchup with Kansas City, scored two TDs, rushed for 89 yards and added 51 points on four catches to score 26.9 points as our would-be Tough-Luck Award giver.

Wide receivers

Tom Brady throws the ball. Wes Welker catches it a lot. Welker caught 16 passes and turned it into 217 yards and two touchdowns. He also registered a 19-yard run to score 35.6 points as our highest point scorer this week. He topped Ravens rookie sensation Torrey Smith who had one of the greatest debuts in NFL history. Smith caught three five passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns. He scored 34.2 points and would have outscored every other player in our contest except Welker.

Tight ends

As mentioned above, Packers tight end Jermichael Finley was the only player who provided full points this week. His three-touchdown game was music to his fantasy owners’ ears. He also hauled in seven passes for 85 yards to score 26.5 fantasy points. Runner-up Rob Gronkowski took advantage of Aaron Hernandez‘s absence, catching seven throws from Brady for 109 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 22.9 fantasy points.

2011 fantasy football contest Week 3 results

Rk

Team

Wk1

Wk2

Wk3

QB

RB

WR

TE

1

Chill Tow.

x

x

5

McCoy

Peterson

SMoss

JFinley

2

Purple Coconuts

0

15

1

Brady

CJohnson

Wallace

Gronkowski

3

69ers

0

15

1

Brady

Rice

Wallace

Gronkowski

4

Dante Bruno

0

5

1

Brady

Rice

VJackson

Gronkowski

5

Team Name Here

5

x

1

Brady

Rice

CaJohnson

Gronkowski

6

Schizo Smurfs

0

0

1

Brees

Tolbert

SSmith

Gronkwoski

7

Tom Hagen

0

0

1

Stafford

Mendenhall

VJackson

Gronkwoski

8

Gridiron Assassins

0

0

1

Brees

Mendenahall

CaJohnson

Gronkowski

9

cartisimo

0

0

1

Newton

Rice

Fitzgerald

Gronkwoski

10

MoHawks

x

0

1

Brady

CJohnson

VJackson

Gronkowski

11

Sockonfl

0

x

1

Vick

Peterson

CaJohnson

Gronkowski

12

Rockchalk

5

0

0

Rivers

Mendenhall

CaJohnson

Gates

13

Super Friends

0

1

0

Rivers

Rice

CaJohnson

Witten

14

Krause

0

0

0

Stafford

Tate

Wallace

FDavis

15

Brandon

0

0

0

Fitzpatrick

Turner

AJohnson

Gates

16

Chickenheads & Pigeons

0

0

0

Hasselbeck

Hardesty

Britt

VDavis

17

Dr. Zoidberg

0

0

0

Rivers

Best

Fitzgerald

FDavis

18

Oops Machine

0

0

0

Rivers

Turner

VJackson

Witten

19

Show Me Your TDs

x

0

0

Brady

Rice

CaJohnson

FDavis

20

LOL Cats

x

0

0

Brees

McCoy

AJohnson

Witten

21

inthewhale

x

x

0

Rivers

Tate

VJackson

Witten

22

Crampers

0

0

x

23

Spurrier, YTVRC?

0

0

x

24

Bearserker

0

x

x

—

In the comments, post who you think will be the best quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end in Week 4. Remember, only the best player at each position is worth five points. But there are massive bonus points for getting more than one pick correct. Good luck.

To learn more about the contest, including scoring/lineup rules or to see Week 1′s lineups thread, go to the original post.